Wall Street record, S&P 500 breaks through the 4 thousand point ceiling

by time news

Time.news – Biden’s $ 2 trillion plan for US infrastructure development and macro data give wings to Wall Street which closes higher with the S&P 500 which hits a new record by ending trading above 4,000 points for the first time.

The Dow Jones was up 0.52% to 33,153.41 points, the Nasdaq by 1.76% to 13,480.11 points, the S&P 500 by 1.18% to 4,019.87. The new US stimulus program comes after the 1.9 trillion one recently launched by Congress and foresees the modernization of the transport network and the creation of millions of jobs.

According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen the plan will make the US economy “much more competitive”. As mentioned, the S&P 500 index exceeded the 4,000 point threshold for the first time thanks to the increases of Microsoft (+ 2.79%), Amazon (+ 2.16%) and Alphabet (+ 3.26%) and Nvidia (+ 3.47%) and optimism about the recovery of the US economy.

These stocks have shown signs of revival after the declines of the past few weeks. The rise in price lists took place despite the surprise increase in unemployment benefits which rose to 719,000 from 658,000 seven days ago (figure revised from the initial 684,000 units). The requests therefore returned above 700,000 units, while analysts expected a drop to 680,000 units.

To counterbalance the labor data, which still shows some difficulties, there was the ISM manufacturing index, which has flown to the top for 38 years. The index jumped to 64.7 points in March from 60.8 points in February, well above the market forecast of 61.3 points.. It is the highest reading since December 1983.

The index remains clearly above the 50-point threshold that separates the phases of expansion from those of contraction of the economy. Another positive figure is that relating to the manufacturing pmi drawn up by Ihs Markit, increased from 58.6 points in February to 59.1 points, in line with expectations. “We are still bullish for this year and we think that with fiscal stimuli, with the Fed engaged in an accommodative policy and with the economy restarting thanks to the vaccination plan, we expect good company balance sheets overall,” said King Lip, analyst. of Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco.

The Nasdaq still remains 5% below its record close on February 12, still suffering from rising Treasury yields (+ 1.677%) which damaged the technological actions. Nine of the top 11 S&P sectors rose, with technology, communications services and energy gaining more than 1%.

Micron Technology Inc jumped 4.76% after chip maker revised fiscal third quarter earnings estimate up on higher demand for 5G smartphone chips and artificial intelligence software. Wall Street is closed for Good Friday tomorrow.

The volatility index Cboe slipped below 18 points for the first time in 14 months, a level last seen before the collapse of global financial markets for Covid in March 2020. Of note is the drop in Johnson & Johnson (-0.90%) after the pharmaceutical company admitted problems with a batch of vaccine Covid-19 produced by Emergent Biosolutions (-13.43%).

Oil rose sharply despite the surprise increase in production by OPEC +. Brent rose by $ 1.32 to $ 64.86 per barrel (+ 3.4%), WTI earned $ 2.29 to $ 61.45 per barrel (+ 3.9%). The decision to increase the offer, several analysts say, came after the phone call between the Secretary of State for Energy Jennifer Granholm and the Saudi Minister of Energy, Abdulaziz Bin Salman.

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